


Son of the Penned Dragon

by vamprav



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic, Arthur is confused, Arthur's name was just to perfect to pass up, Creature Arthur, I just couldn't resist, M/M, Mates, Mentions of Possible Mpreg, Oblivious Merlin, Pendragons are literal dragons, Protective Arthur, also sorry for the dragon pun, more tags will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-04-12 00:52:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4459079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamprav/pseuds/vamprav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite popular belief Arthur is not stupid. Of course he knows about Merlin's magic. He'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice it. He's just so obvious about it that it would be harder to pretend it didn't exist.</p><p>Of course Arthur had a little help thanks to his Pendragon heritage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arthur is Not an Idiot

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I thought this up last night and I couldn't resist. I blaim this on The Hunt by novemberlite, I listened to erica_schall's podfic, got to the part where Arthur starts sniffing Merlin while in the dragon mask, and my brain made a stupid pun. Then my brain started asking questions about how obvious Merlin is about his magic and then it asked what if he wasn't being oblivious and knew about the magic. But Merlin was completely oblivious about Arthur knowing and then my brain made another stupid pun and this happened.
> 
> So enjoy! Open permission to podfic.

Contrary to popular belief Arthur is not an idiot. Or oblivious. Or naive.

Arthur has known about Merlin's magic since before the blue eyed boy was his manservant. Merlin wasn't exactly discreet about his abilities.

That first meeting had been a disaster and the second hadn't been much better but he'd still learned something which he saw as a win.

The first time they'd met Arthur had been harrying one of the servant boys because that's what's expected and everyone there knows that he won't really hurt the man, just scare him enough to get across the point that trying to go after a scullery maid with a knife when she refuses to sleep with you is a very bad idea. He wouldn't kill the man because he belonged to Arthur but the maid belonged to Arthur as well so the man need to be punished for hurting what was his.

Then, a boy had stepped forward from the crowd, told him to stop, and called him friend. And the boy wasn't  _his_ but the minute Arthur sees him his heart kicks up a notch and he wants him. He wants to own this boy more than he'd ever wanted to own someone before. It had confused him for a second, made his brain scramble in an attempt to try and rationalize why he wanted this boy and then he screwed up, insulting him, made an inappropriate innuendo, and taunted him. He'd been trying to see what the boy was made of and figure out why the boy was so sure Arthur couldn't really hurt him, which was really quite insulting.

He hadn't expected the punch. It was only his years of training and that kept him from flinching... or throwing the man to the floor and ravaging him in front of his knights and marketplace onlookers.

What he did next did not help. Because he twists the boy's arm behind his back and the boy's ass snugs back against Arthur's hips.

Then the smell hits him. It was like forests and beaches, apples and lemonade and that smell you get just after a lightning strike. It was intoxicating and Arthur never wants to let him go, but the scent was confusing at the same time because only magic users smell like citrus. But none of them smelt like lemonade.

Gaius smelt like orange zest and those damn potions he made that tasted awful. Morgan smelt like orange blossoms but that was masked by her perfumes. Every witch and sorcerer they have executed smells like rotting lemon juice or sour limes.

None of them, not a single one, smelt of sugary delicious, just the right side of sour-sweet lemony goodness.

So he did the only logical thing he could think of, he through the boy in the dungeon, while he tried to figure out why the boy smelled so good.

...And why his body reacted the way it did to the boy's - no Merlin's, the boy had said his name was Merlin - scent in such a way.

So Arthur asked his father what was going on, only mentioning the reaction, not the specific scent or the person that caused it. His father, was delighted, giving him a huge grin and informing him that Arthur had found his true mate and he was "immensely proud that my only son has found his match so young" since he'd only found Arthur's mother three years before the young prince's birth and her resulting death.

Now, the reason for Arthur's mother's death was a curse laid upon her family generations ago, the woman of her line couldn't conceive naturally and if they used magic they died in child birth. She hadn't told Uther this until she lay there with Arthur in her arms and midwife couldn't seem to staunch the bleeding. She'd thought that the Pendragon heritage would let her conceive or that it would negate the curse some how but it hadn't and she died. And Uther had gone on a rampage of grief and now their were not any magic users left except for Gaius - who never used his gift for anything but healing and most of the time not even then - and Morgan - who could only do small things so far. The loss of a mate could cause madness, they were lucky Uther didn't do worst.

And there was the keyword, mate. Humans didn't have mates, but then again Arthur wasn't human.

Arthur and Uther were Pendragons, a heritage that had passed down for eons from the first Pendragon. Though they hadn't been called Pendragon back then. They were called the Penned Dragons, because their forebears had been dragon's trapped in a human's body.

When they had children some of their draconian traits down to them and children's children, all the way down the ages to Uther who passed them on to Arthur and now the line would end because Arthur's mate was male.

Except...

Except that Merlin was a magic user an a powerful one at that. His magic clever, sneaky, and instinctive.

Arthur had been shocked the first time he'd seen Merlin's eyes flash gold, not by the fact that he was using magic but by the fact that the boy, his mate, hadn't used the magic to hurt him and by the fact that Merlin hadn't used an incantation. And the boy was good, not making the magic flash and not using it too often. In fact he only used it when it looked like Arthur was going to swing his mace at him. With a little more training in combat and magic the boy might actually have beaten Arthur.

That was a bit of a shock and Arthur needed to collect his thoughts but he'd let Merlin go about his business and he went about his. By the end of the day he was exhausted and flopped into bed. The next morning he'd gone to see Kilgharrah, found out Merlin hated him, and went to go sulk.

Uther had kicked some sense into him, dragged him to a banquet, and then he'd almost died. But Merlin had saved him, which always caused a smirk to split his face. He'd kept the secrets for as long as he could - Merlin's magic and his mate status - for a long, long time. And then, Merlin slipped up.


	2. Uther is a Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is incredibly paranoid sometimes. Luckily most of the time the paranoia pays off... This one's still up for debate though.

Arthur was doing his - annoying - princely duty in chatting up the Duchess What's-Her-Name of Somewhere when Merlin appeared at his elbow, eyeing the woman with distrust. Arthur payed no mind as the manservant took the goblet from his hand, topped it off, and took a sip. The duchess however stared at Merlin as the boy waited and then, with a nod, handed the goblet back to the Prince of Camelot. Arthur took it without question, internally he was making a very undignified happy noise.

"Wh-what?" The duchess asked as Arthur signaled Merlin to go grab him an orange. Merlin nodded and scampered off causing Arthur to frown, his man servant had been far to quiet as of late.

Shaking the thought off he turned back to the duchess, flashing her one of his most winning smiles. "Oh, didn't you here, a very foolish young lady actually managed to poison me a few months ago. My servant has been blaming himself for the incident and makes it a point to test my drink ever time someone new shows up or when he has to top it up. She was far less beautiful than you, my dear duchess, and I admit to letting my guard down a bit more than I should around pretty ladies." He said. He didn't add that the only reason he was alive was because of his dragon blood, the dose of aconite the wretched woman had given him would have killed anyone else. It might have even killed his father if he'd been the target.

Arthur looked up to track Merlin's path back to him and let himself a small smile but he still didn't miss the look that passed through the duchesses eyes at the last comment. It was gone in a second and she was back to being all smiles. "Oh, what a loyal servant!" She said. "It's so rear that they value our lives more than their own! I may just have to steal him from you!" She ended the last with a truly vicious smile, voice dropping into a faint growl.

Arthur was going to watch this one, he'd known there was a reason he couldn't remember her name. He'd taken the time - on pain of his father's anger - to memorize every single noblewoman, man, and child who could ever possibly show up at court. If he didn't remember them they were either a common masquerading as a noble or someone from a different country.

Alright... So either this was an assassination attempt that Merlin would probably thwart or she was hear to try and kidnap him or - the least likely - the duchess was trying to seduce him into sleeping with her. If he was lucky it was the assassination attempt, if he was really lucky Merlin wouldn't get hurt, and if Arthur was really really lucky he'd get to show off to his mate.

Maybe this would be the time Merlin noticed. Maybe this time he'd look at Arthur with wonder in his eyes. Maybe this was the time that Arthur would work up the courage to drag Merlin back to his room, toss the sorcerer onto his bed, and take as much affection as the other boy would let him.

Then again maybe his father would turn into a rooster and dance a waltz with a pig.

Arthur was shaken from his thoughts by Merlin appearing by his shoulder and glaring at the impostor duchess. He deposited a peeled orange with a segment missing in the prince's hand and did his standard taste check of Arthur's goblet. This time he remained by Arthur's shoulder looking like an angry cat as he looked at the fake duchess.

"The Lady Morgan asked you to talk to her sometime tonight. Gwen said the lady might be retiring early, she suggested talking with her now before they depart." Merlin said, a hint of a smile in his voice. Arthur nodded, ignoring the stab of jealousy at the way Merlin talked about Gwen. The girl was a good friend to Morgan and he couldn't kill her for Merlin's affection towards her.

"Excuse me, my lady. My sister isn't one that you enjoy keeping waiting, her bite is worst than her bark, and if I'm not quick about it I may find that she's painted all the practice dummies pink." The prince said gracefully causing the fake duchess to laugh. Mentally sneering he turned to Merlin. "Lead the way, my faithful servant."

Merlin straightened his spine a bit and, yep, that was preening. Arthur felt instantly better about the prospect of having his wicked way with his wayward mate. Maybe if he kept up the praise then Merlin would let him at least kiss the boy. Lost in his own thoughts Arthur didn't see the man with the knife until it was too late, the man had already thrown the knife.

He saw the knife flying for him and resigned himself to another gut wound, it was seriously starting to get really old but he couldn't turn in the middle of a ball and his father didn't even know that he could do the half shift. The half shift was only achieved by having an active, powerful magic user around and Morgan, while powerful hadn't done enough magic for his dragon's blood to deem her an "active" magic user. If he shifted everything would go to hell in a hand basket and Uther would try to kill Merlin.

Then, something happened that Merlin didn't expect. Merlin jumped in front of him, arm outstretched, hand extended, and stopped the knife with magic, just a centimeter away from his palm. There was complete silence in the great hall as everyone stared at the prince's manservant. Arthur's muscles tensed even further - if that was even possible - and dropped his goblet. That seemed to be what broke the silence.

"Guards!" Uther cried pointing at two sets of guards. "Seize him!"

One set of guards wrestled the nobleman who had thrown the knife to the floor but came straight for Merlin. The servant sorcerer turned to stare into Arthur's eyes with tears gathered at the corners. "I'm sorry, Arthur." Merlin said. "I'm sorry I lied to you about this."

Then the guards were on him and Merlin never looked away from the princes eyes as he was dragged out of the great hall.

Arthur stared in shock as his sorcerer, his mate, his Merlin was dragged away from him.


	3. Arthur is Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur is not going to let his father execute Merlin, even if it means defying him.

"You can't execute Merlin!" Arthur yelled, slamming his hands down on his father's desk. His fangs were fully dropped and his eyes blazed bright blue.

Uther just glanced at him and returned to the paperwork he was reviewing. "Yes, I can. I am the king, Arthur, and more than that, I am the one who owns every person in this castle. He is a wizard and therefore he must be executed." The king said. "You'll have time to say your goodbyes."

"But he saved my life! You can't kill him for that!"

"And I am not. I'm killing him for doing magic." The king said simply. "He will be executed in two days time in a private arena, you can behead him yourself if you wish."

Arthur's insides screamed at him that this was wrong, that this man was a threat to his mate and there people. He'd been dealing with similar feelings for  awhile, ever since his father started executing magic users and he could understand why it was being done. They had intensified when he'd met Merlin but now it was getting to the point where he couldn't ignore it anymore. Taking a deep breathe, the prince straightened to look down at his father.

Uther was frail, fragile, Arthur could snap the man in half with less than a thought but if he did that he would be no worst than the king. Arthur wanted to prove he was better than that, that he could rule a kingdom without the blood of the former ruler on his hands.

"Father, would it not be best to consider lightening the magic ban. We have been attacked by no less that ten assassins in the last year, eight of which were using magical means in some capacity to achieve their goals, almost all of which have been thwarted with the assistance of Merlin. Would it not be best to have someone at court with the magical ability to end those attempts before they begin?" The younger Pendragon asked and waited for a response.

Uther paused in the middle of signing a document to look up at Arthur, lips pulling back in threat. He hadn't dropped his fangs yet but there was a good chance of it happening soon, the snarl was a warning. "No, Arthur, I will not lift or change a law - especially that law - just because you have some unnatural attachment to your former manservant. The law holds." Uther said.

"My attachment is not unnatural." Arthur snarled. "And I've had the idea for a while, a court sorcerer would benefit us greatly, I just never had the opportunity to bring it up."

Uther's eyes narrowed. "You knew." He growled at Arthur ad began to stand.

Arthur scoffed and rolled his eyes, sneering at his father. "Of course I knew. He wasn't exactly subtle. Why do you think I allowed him into combat and tried to train him to fight?"

"You didn't tell me..." Uther's fangs dropped. "He must have enchanted you."

Arthur scoffed again. "He didn't enchant me, he's my mate." He knew the words were a mistake almost as soon as they came out of his mouth.

Uther's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly as Arthur cursed himself and his impulsive nature. "Impossible, he must have you deeper under his spell than I thought he did." Uther said and sat. "We will have to move up his exicution... Tomorrow at dawn then."

Arthur felt like someone had stabbed him through the heart and he cried out, reaching for his father. "Father!" He exclaimed.

"No!" Uther yelled and slapped a fist down on his desk. "No! I will not let you linger under that _beings_ spell any longer than necessary! I will not let my only son and heir live under a false pretense! Now, get out of my sight!"

Arthur trembled, feeling scales creep across the back of his neck and down his spine. His blood had run cold as the dragon's heart inside him whimpered and cried out for his mate. If Merlin died...

What would he do? What could he do? His father was the ruler of this land and Arthur had sworn never to rule by conquest.

Dejected and angry Arthur left the office, he had to find a way to save Merlin.


End file.
